Money and Converts

In the Qur'an we read:

"Alms are for the poor and the needy, and those employed to administer
the (funds); for those whose hearts have been (recently) reconciled (to Truth);
for those in bondage and in debt; in the cause of God; and for the wayfarer:
(thus is it) ordained by God, and God is full of knowledge and wisdom"
[Surat at-Taubah 9:60; translation by Yusuf Ali]

The following is taken from the classical Muslim commentary on the Qur'an,
Tafsir Ibn Kathir. The comment on Surah 9:60 states:

As for those whose hearts have been (recently) reconciled (to the Truth)
they are in various divisions: some who were given (money) to convert to Islam,
like when the Prophet Muhammad - Peace Be Upon Him - gave Safwan Bin
Ummayah from the booty of the Battle of Hunayn, and he (Safwan Bin Ummayah)
had fought in it as an infidel [Mushrik], ...
Imam Ahmad said: Narrated Zakria bin Uddi, that Ibn Al-Mobarek said that
Younis Al-Zahri from Saaid bin Al-Messyab from Safwan Bin Ummayah
who said: "The Messenger - Peace Be Upon Him - gave me (money) on
the Battle of Hunayn and he was one of the people I've hated most;
he kept on giving me (money) until he became one of the people I've
loved most."[*]
And some of them are given (money) to better their Islam and strengthen
their faith in their hearts, like when he (Muhammad) gave on the Battle of Hunayn
a group of the lowest of the released prisoners and the most noble of them
one hundred camels each, and he (Muhammad) said, "Giving a man and others
(money) is lovable (by me) because I'm afraid that Allah would throw him
(the infidel) on his face into the hell fire." And in the Sahihayn (meaning
Bukhari and Muslim) narrated Ibn Sa'eed, that Ali sent to the Prophet - Peace
Be Upon Him - with a gold piece in it's soil from Yemen, so he (Muhammad)
divided it between four people: Al-Aqra' Bin Al-Habis, Ayyinah Bin Badr,
Alqamah Bin Oulathah, and Zayd Al-Khayr, and he (Muhammad) said,
"Atta'alafuhum = I'm reconciling their hearts to the truth", some of them
are given (money) to collect the charity from those close to them, and some
of them are given money to protect the Muslims from attacks at the corners
of the countries.